The Road Surface Treatments Association (RSTA) was welcomed the positioning of the poor state of the local road network as a key election issue for the two major political parties.
As a result of decades of under-investment the overall condition of local road network has deteriorated to such an extent that the latest ALARM Survey from the Asphalt Industry Alliance reports that one-in-five roads are in such a poor condition that they will need replacing within five years. The survey calculates that it would take ten years and cost £9.8 billion to bring the road network up to scratch.
The Conservatives manifesto has pledged an additional £2 billion over the next four years to repair the road network as part of a National Infrastructure Strategy calling it the ‘biggest ever pot-hole filling programme’. Labour has said it would invest to make ‘neglected local roads safer for drivers’. The other political parties have concentrated on bus and rail services.
“RSTA has long campaigned for the socio-economic importance of a well-maintained road network to be recognised and the necessary levels of funding investment to be provided,” said Mike Harper, RSTA Chief Executive. “We warmly welcomed the inclusion of pledges to improve the road network in the Conservative and Labour manifestos. We hope that these promises are carried through. £2 billion over 4 years – if additional funding – is a substantial and useful amount to invest to make a real change.
However, that change will not come from just ‘filling potholes’ but from implementing proactive maintenance programmes that call upon the vast array of proven road surface treatments that would keep roads in a safe and serviceable condition and avoid potholes from forming in the first place.”